Obituary
David E. (Dave) van Dyck, Chicago sports media fixture of 40 years, passed away in Fort Myers on November 22, 2023. Dave is survived by his loving wife of nearly 60 years, Connie van Dyck. He will be dearly missed by his three children, Laura (Silvestri) of Boiling Springs, S.C., Geoffrey van Dyck of Punta Gorda, FL, and Amy (Muscolino) of Chicago, IL. Dave was a proud grandfather to six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Dr. Peter van Dyck, of Phoenixville, PA, and his sister, Susan Pool, of Washington, IL.
Dave was born on February 14, 1947, in Washington, IL, to the late William Cuyler and Marguerite van Dyck. In 2014, Dave was named the city’s second recipient of its Roots Award for excellence in lifetime achievement. He was also an original inductee into the Washington High School Hall of Fame. It was during high school that his basketball coach felt so badly about cutting him that he found him a job at the local newspaper. This pivotal turn of events launched Dave into the beginning of his tremendous career.
While earning a degree in English Literature at the University of Illinois, Dave worked at local newspapers and was named sports editor at the News-Gazette at the age of 22. His career took him to various media outlets, including an NBC television affiliate as a sports reporter, the Rockford and Peoria newspapers, all before being hired at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Over the next 40 years, Dave’s dedication and talent led him to ultimately work at the Chicago Tribune, where he made significant contributions to the initiation of the national Fox Sports network as an internet writer and on-air reporter. He was also a decade-long member of WGN’s ground-breaking Sportswriters radio show and played a crucial role in establishing Chicago’s sports talk radio station. Dave’s career extended to on-air sports programs for Fox Sports and Comcast.
Throughout his journey, Dave van Dyck covered numerous iconic sports moments. He reported on the Chicago Bears’ only Super Bowl Championship and Chicago’s first World Series Championship in nearly a century. As a racing writer, Dave covered more than 10 Daytona 500s and 25 Indianapolis 500s. He notably covered the death of racing legend Dale Earnhardt. Dave was the lead reporter on Michael Jordan’s entrance and exit from baseball and broke the story on Bo Jackson’s surprising move from football to baseball. He was
also one of only two reporters who covered the intense home run competition between the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa and the Cardinals’ Mark McGuire in 1998. Dave had the privilege of helping Muhammad Ali surprise a life insurance salesman by purchasing a policy. Additionally, he was one of the first guests on a new TV program in Chicago hosted by then newcomer Oprah Winfrey.
Dave van Dyck’s key contributions to sports writing were most notable in baseball. He spent 30 years as a baseball writer, with nearly half of that time serving as Chicago’s chapter president. He had the opportunity to cover over 30 Hall of Famers who played every position, as well as one owner, one manager, and five announcers. Dave’s expertise led him to serve on the original Hall of Fame Veterans Committee in Cooperstown, which selected overlooked players and team managers. His exceptional work earned him two nominations for the Taylor Spink award, the highest honor in sports writing.
Dave’s family will remember him privately, as there will be no services held.
We met as neighbors when we both lived in Lombard, Il. and our sons played Little League together back in the 1970s .
To Connie and the rest of the family, my sincere condolences. I pray for Dave's soul.
Roy Walker
Marseilles, Il
One of fav memories is when we had red eye flight out of California after baseball game.
We had hours to drink at the airport and we did. When we boarded plane in first class stewardess literally threw a blanket at both of us. She said use these. We did. Was a good sleep to Chicago.
I’ll miss you Dave.